


Where to Now?

by TilSeptemberends



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Luzriel, M/M, Modern Era, POV Lucien (ACoTaR), POV Third Person
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:27:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22748563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TilSeptemberends/pseuds/TilSeptemberends
Summary: Lucien Vanserra's had a pretty shitty year. After his best friend bailed on their lease a search for a new roommate began and only a few months after Azriel moves in the love of Lucien's life leaves him in the dust. Facing a bitter path of recovery Lucien starts to think about how he's been acting since Tamlin left. Job hopping and accepting bribe money from his brother to stay away from their father's company. But when he finishes sulking he decides to try and talk to the person who moved in with him. And as it turns out there's more to the quiet potter than he'd thought. But Lucien can't even focus on that for long while he's dodging questions about what he wants to do with his life now that he's done with college. Things are spiraling and he's running out people to confide in.
Relationships: Azriel & Lucien Vanserra, Azriel/Lucien Vanserra
Comments: 5
Kudos: 29





	1. Email

Lucien leaned against a wall, eyes closed. Perhaps if they remained closed they’d disappear. Judging by the crash in the living area that was not the case. Lucien attempted to take a casual glance out into the sitting area. His roommate certainly had a lot of friends, didn’t he? Azriel sat on the ground while his other two friends lounged on the sofa behind him. Rhysand had taken to texting someone but Cassian was busy making a right nuisance of himself. Lucien scowled and ducked back when Rhys looked up.  
“Hey, Lucien!” Cassian called and Lucien groaned. He refilled his wine glass and strolled out into the sitting room. Rhys offered a small wave, “We were worried you’d fallen down the disposal.” Lucien smiled, tense and forced but he was doing his best to be polite. “I could only wish to be so lucky,” he muttered as he took a seat on a recliner opposite to the couch.  
Cassian tilted his head a bit at Lucien, “You seem a little extra bitter today. You get dumped or somethin?” Azriel tensed and gave his friend a harsh look. Lucien looked down at his glass. “I don’t see that being relevant at all.” It was none of Cassian’s business. It hadn’t been any of Azriel’s business the night before either. Lucien took a deep breath and looked up to see Rhys tapping Cassian’s shoulder to get his attention. Once Cassian looked back Rhys shook his head and Cassian seemed to drop the subject. Lucien slouched a bit in his seat and took a long sip of his drink. “So what have you been up to Lucien? You haven’t dropped in at the studio much lately.” Lucien nodded. He almost forgot that Rhys was seeing Feyre. “No. I’ve been rather busy recently.” he tried to shut down the conversation but this seemed to get Cassian’s attention again. “Not talking to Tamlin, I hope.”  
Lucien almost growled but Azriel cleared his throat, “It’s not really any of your business who Lucien speaks with. Is it Cassian?” The room was silent for a moment. It always was after Azriel spoke. Cassian shrugged this off as well and stood up. “Well, I better be going. Long night.” Lucien held in his sigh of relief as Cassian retreated grabbing his jacket and keys on the way out the door. Rhys stood up soon after, “Hang in there Lucien, being single isn't so bad.” Lucien scowled a bit and downed the rest of his glass as Rhys brushed out the door.  
“Your friends are feeling awfully nosy today.” Lucien noted and Azriel sighed quietly, “They don’t mean anything by it.” he stood up and Lucien looked at the ceiling, “That’s not quite my point. Why should Cassian care at all if I’m in the room at all?” Azriel took Lucien’s glass, “because you live here and it’d be odd if you spent all your time in the kitchen.” Lucien didn’t argue and Azriel walked back into the kitchen with the glass. He hadn’t been looking to refill it anyways.  
He reached into his pocket to check his phone and found several missed calls from his brother. He swiped the notifications away. Eris could wait. Phone calls with him always ended the same way anyways. Do whatever the hell you want as long as it’s far from here. His father’s company was far too close in locale to Tamlin anyhow. Lucien had less than zero interest in seeing him again. A little harsh considering how close they’d been but it wasn’t Lucien’s fault Tamlin had blown town after he got a little pissy. It wasn’t his job to clean up Tamlin’s messes. He had Ianthe for that.  
Lucien pushed himself out of the chair and went to hide in his bedroom. He took a small leap onto his bed and sighed. Hanging his head off the side he could see into his closet where he’d dumped everything Tamlin had left behind, fully prepared to light the shit on fire until he remembered he lived in an apartment building where there were rules against such activities. He decided to look over at his desk. It was still a mess of cards and lecture notes from when he’d graduated a month back. Tamlin hadn’t shown up to see Lucien graduate. Even though Lucien had invited him. He wasn’t even sure why he’d invited Tamlin. Maybe trying to patch things up. Above his poor overworked desktop computer hung Lucien’s useless degree that his father had begrudgingly paid for in full. Performing Arts as if Lucien had ever intended on going out on stage. He supposed that was why he kept getting asked what he was going to do next. He always said the same thing. He wasn’t sure. He’d just graduated. He’d do a bit of job-hopping and settle down once he got into something. Lucien groaned and rolled over to look at the floor. A bit dusty since he’d last swept with a textbook here and there. He wondered briefly what Azriel had done for college. Or if his roommate had even gone to college. Rhysand certainly had, and Cassian… might have passed high school courses? Lucien didn’t care one way or the other if Cassian had flunked out to become a bouncer anyways. But Azriel seemed to be the odd one of the group. He was quiet, not shy, just silent. And his occupation was hardly aggressive in nature. Creating and glazing pottery in a small studio/store he seemed to manage himself. Lucien sat upright. His roommate was odd but after preaching to Azriel about his friend’s being too nosy he wasn’t about to go contradict himself.  
Something pinged on his desktop and he walked over. He dropped himself into the office chair, sending a few stray post-it notes flying away and woke up the computer. The notification had come from his email. He leaned his head on his head and opened the email. He started to read through it.

Dear, Mr.Vanserra  
After our discussion last week, I do believe it would be in your best interest to schedule another appointment with us. We are only here to help you as best we can by offering a safe environment for clients to talk about anything with licensed professionals. And of course with the sound mind that everything is confidential. I do hope to see your name as a client again if only to see you successfully overcome some of the issues you’ve been facing. Attached are the proper forms if you so choose.  
Dr. Alvarie, Velaris County Hospital, Mental Health

It was a short enough email. And not overly insulting. He debated dragging the message into the trash. He sighed and pushed away from the desk.  
The chair jerked to a stop and Lucien shouted, “Shit!” as it fell backward entirely and he landed with a less than graceful thud. He heard footsteps down the hall as he propped himself up on one arm. The door opened and Azriel took in the scene. “...are you alright?” he finally asked and Lucien sighed, “I think so… glad I didn’t do that when your friends were here.” he kicked the chair lightly and examined the wrist he’d landed on. “I may be a bit tipsier than I thought.” Azriel stepped forward and set the office chair upright. “It looks like something got stuck in the wheel.” Lucien glanced at the wheel. The culprit that had so effortlessly thrown him from the chair was a piece of ribbon from his final project. “I thought I’d cleaned up the last of that.” Azriel glanced about the room. “It’s actually remarkable, you seem to have found the one piece to slip on.” Azriel knelt down to take a closer look at the wheel. He started to mess with it and Lucien walked over, “Oh, I’ll take care of it later, the edges are kind of sharp down-” “Got it.” Azriel stood back up and offered the ribbon to Lucien. “Er… thank you. You didn’t have to do that though.” Azriel shrugged his shoulders a bit. “It’s not safe to leave it for too long.”  
Azriel made his way back to the door and paused, “Lucien..?” Lucien looked back over at him, “Yes?” Azriel took a small breath before saying, “I’m sorry… about eavesdropping last night…” And before Lucien could assure Azriel that it wasn’t like he and Elaine were being quiet about it, Azriel had disappeared down the hall. Lucien peered out into the hall just in time to see Azriel duck into his own bedroom. Lucien looked at the ribbon and then back at the computer. It couldn’t hurt to talk to someone. Just once. Right?


	2. Painting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I meant for this to be out a lot sooner. But hopefully, this suffices for now. Thanks and I hope you enjoy-  
> September

“I don’t need him around. I don’t” Lucien insisted to the doctor as he sat upside down on the sofa in their office. “Seriously. I’m so done with him. Do you know, he bailed on our lease. Do you know how many fines I had to pay out for that? And that’s on top of what he damaged when he was throwing his temper tantrum.” The doctor nodded and cleared her throat, “It sounds like there might be a little underlying resentment here. Did he do anything to you before this particular event?” Lucien sighed, “Like punch me?” The doctor shook her head, “Not necessarily. But did he?” Lucien shrugged as best he could, “I mean we fought sometimes but he always apologized before.” Lucien looked out towards the window. “Sometimes he just talked really loud. Just kinda intimidated me into sticking around…” He trailed off a bit and listened as Dr.Alvarie wrote something down again. “So things were tense between you two for a while is what I’m gathering. Would you say this fight is what broke you apart for good?” Lucien shook his head, “No. I mean I was really mad and I was totally prepared to burn all his shit… but I still invited him to my graduation. But he didn’t show up. Didn’t even tell me that he wanted nothing to do with me anymore. I think that was it for me. I guess he just decided it was over first.” More pencil scratching and a timer went off. Dr. Alvarie reached over her desk and switched the timer off. “Well, Lucien whatever we still have to go over I’m very glad you decided to stop in again today. I hope to talk to you again soon.” Lucien nodded and rolled back onto the ground before standing up and grabbing his jacket. “I believe I scheduled a follow up next week at the same time.” The doctor stood up and shook his hand. “I’ll see you next week then.” Lucien nodded, pulled on his jacket and left the clinic.  
Lucien checked the time before making his way down the street. He really hadn’t been sure that morning about why exactly he’d scheduled the appointment. And even when he’d arrived there had been a full 15 minutes of dead silence on his end as the doctor tried to coax him into discussing something. And then when he had started to talk he hadn’t been able to shut himself up. Lucien stopped up on the bridge overlooking the river that cut through Velaris. It was a beautiful location. Feyre sometimes took her younger classes to paint there on weekends and anyone could see why. Clear blue running through calm and pleasantly busy streets. And at night you could see the reflections of stars and streetlights on the surface of the water.  
“Lucien Vanserra. Fancy seeing you here.” when Lucien looked up he found Morrigan and Amren. Two off Rhysand’s ‘inner circle’. The differences between the two women were remarkable sometimes. Morrigan was a tall blonde with bright smiles and an affinity for red clothing whereas Amren stood at least a foot shorter than her friend. She wore her black hair short, below her chin but not quite touching her shoulders. And the only red Amren could ever be seen wearing was her lipstick, bright against her pale skin. It sometimes gave the impression that she’d just finished draining someone of all their blood. Although Lucien supposed that couldn’t be too far off as Rhysand’s personal attorney. As for Morrigan… he wasn’t sure what she did. “You’d better be on your way to the studio.” Mor cast him a clever smile and Lucien paused.  
Amren cleared her throat, “We’re actually on our way there ourselves.” Lucien did his best not to shudder but the look of amusement on Amren’s face let him know he’d had little success in that department. “Perfect.” Mor looped her arm through Lucien’s and pulled him away from the bridge, “We’ll arrive together and surprise Feyre.” Lucien might have tried pulling away if not for Amren’s presence behind him. Not even a year ago Lucien never would have let Mor get close enough to touch him. Let alone drag him somewhere like this. But so much had spiraled out of control in that time and he and Mor could almost consider each other friends. At least… they were both friends with Feyre. Lucien did his best not to speak too sharply with Mor. The first and only time he’d shouted at her she’d practically fell into the wall behind her and Rhysand had been quick to toss him out of the room to help his cousin. Lucien knew why of course. His brother Eris hadn’t stopped at just yelling at the girl. It was that guilt, second-hand guilt for something he’d taken no part in, that kept him from being too harsh on Morrigan. Lucien wondered briefly if Mor would talk to him outside of their mutual obligation to Feyre.  
“Here we are!” Mor swung the door open and sang out for their friend, dropping Lucien’s arm as the bell sounded. Feyre looked up from where she was showing a set of brushes to a young girl and smiled.  
“I’ll be just a moment Io.” She excused herself, handing a brush to the girl before making her way over. “Well, this is a surprise. Between Amren and Lucien being here I’d almost question what kind of dirt you had on them, Mor.” Morrigan laughed a bit but Lucien couldn’t help but feel bad for how rare his visits to Feyre had been recently. Amren, as usual, didn’t seem to take the jab very personally.  
“Rhys wanted me to remind you of the faculty party tomorrow.” Feyre blew some hair out of her face and waved a hand dismissively. “Honestly, does that boy have you running errands now?” Amren mused, “Perhaps he’s running low on people for me to sue in your honor.” Lucien and Feyre both winced recalling their downright abusive treatment while they’d been employed by Amarantha in Hybern. Feyre nearly lost her arm in a crash after their ‘gracious’ leader sent her out in weather so bad you could hardly see your own hand in front of your face. Rhysand had been giddy when they won that particular suit. Lucien glanced at Feyre’s arm. Covered in tattoos to hide the scarring. He felt ashamed that he hadn’t done more to help her back then… although he supposed Tamlin was responsible for her treatment as well as Amarantha’s clear favoritism towards him could have granted any number of favors. Instead, Tamlin had moped around and left his girlfriend to suffer under the thumb of a jealous witch. It was no wonder Feyre left him.  
“Hellooo. Prythian to Lucien come in Lucien.” Mor waved a newly manicured hand in front of his face. He shook his head, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to ignore you.”  
Feyre offered him a small smile, “It’s alright. Here.” She handed Lucien and More a paintbrush each and pushed them towards the stools. “Oh dear, Feyre, I don’t think I can-” Feyre pushed him into a seat, “Don’t be ridiculous. I’ve finally got you both here. I don’t intend to let you leave so soon if you plan on visiting me only once a year. Lucien looked over Amren who had already given up fighting it at all, instead opening a small jar of paint. Lucien sighed and reached for one of the jars by where Feyre had sat him down.  
The bell rang out and Lucien didn’t have to look up to know who it was. “Feyre Darling!” Rhys strode towards his fiance. Feyre frowned momentarily as Rhys pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I don't suppose you remember sending poor Amren down here?" Rhys waved a hand, "The poor woman needs to leave her office every once in a while." Rhys glanced over at Amren who had started painting… something. It was only a patch of red at the moment but given the typical nature of what Amren produced at the studio, Feyre would keep it behind the front counter to dry before wrapping it up for Amren to take home. Rhys cleared his throat, “Hello, Lucien.” Lucien shifted in his seat and waved slightly. Rhys continued his usual banter with Feyre and Lucien contemplated just how much his situation had changed. Tamlin would have been livid with him… if he even cared to be. Lucien did his best to disregard that particular train of thought and looked for some subject around the room to paint. The bell above the door chimed again and Rhys pulled himself from saccharine musings of a wedding that was still 6 months away to greet his friends. “Cassian, Az!” Lucien glanced up to the look at them. Azriel’s hands and arms were still dusty with dried clay but his shoulders were slumped, relaxed as if he’d just gotten out of a long soak. Lucien cleared his throat and called quietly for Feyre. “I really have no idea what I’m supposed to be painting her. Feyre sighed a bit but smiled determinedly, “That’s alright we just need to find something you can really focus on.” she straightened and grinned. “Oh god, what are you up to?” Lucien asked as Feyre dropped a stool a few feet in front of Lucien’s canvas. Like she normally did when preparing a subject. Lucien almost had time to protest before Feyre took ahold of Azriel’s shoulders and steered him over to the stool. “I know life images are a bit strange for you still but since you two live together that might make it easier. You must see each other all the time.” Lucien looked at Mor who simply smiled and continued on whatever she’d decided to paint. And Lucien knew better than to look to Amren for help. “A-lright... Let’s get to it then.” Lucien forced a smile and Feyre paused a bit before returning to her conversation with Rhys. Lucien did his best to get a form down. Azriel was easy enough to get a scope on. Still as stone save for the steady rise and fall off his chest as he breathed. His clothing wasn’t terribly difficult either. A dark band t-shirt over and long-sleeved white t-shirt. Azriel had rolled those sleeves up to work and Lucien made sure to note the two silver bangles he wore. One on each wrist and each set with a beautiful blue stone. A similarly crafted earring could be found hiding under his messy black hair. Initially, Lucien had though Azriel’s eyes were a plain brown but he could spy hints of green and blue as the sun passed through the windows. Hazel, with tones that almost made Lucien jealous.  
“I don’t see you here very often,” Azriel spoke softly, and Lucien almost thought he’d imagined it. He cleared his throat, “Um no… I don’t usually make it out here.” He hadn’t expected Azriel to try and start a conversation. “Is… is your own studio around here then?” Azriel nodded, “Down the street. Though it’s not solely mine like Feyre’s is.” Lucien paused, “Rhys didn’t offer to pay for your own?” Azriel exhaled in a way that almost sounded like a chuckle, “No, he did. But I didn’t want to rely on his money to get started. He overpays me for what I make for him already.” Lucien paused briefly to ask, “And what do you make for him?” Azriel shrugged a bit, “This and that. Dishes for the break rooms, odds, and ends for his office.” He brushed some hair out of his eyes and gave Lucien a quizzical look. “What about you?” Lucien frowned a bit, “What about me?” Azriel glanced over at Feyre before leaning down on his knees, “Have you found a job yet?” Lucien shook his head a bit, “I’ve been in a bit of a state recently…” he said as if Azriel didn’t know. “I’m sure something will catch my eye soon.” Azriel nodded, “I hope so.” Azriel glanced over Lucien’s shoulder and Lucien paused to do the same. Feyre, Cassian, and Rhys had moved behind him. To watch he supposed. “I didn’t know you could actually do this,” Cass commented and Lucien tried not to scowl. “I took a few courses while I was still in school.” Lucien set the brush down and Feyre brushed past Rhys and Cassian. “It’s lovely Lucien.” She leaned down a bit and added quietly, “I’m sorry if you felt uncomfortable. I didn’t want to force you to do anything.” Lucien turned his head to look at his friend, “It’s alright. You know better than anyone I can be a bit thick sometimes.” Feyre smiled a bit and stood upright again. “Well then, it’s not a show. If you're looking to gawk the gallery is over there.” Feyre shooed Cassian and Rhys away. Leaving only Azriel. Lucien looked back at the vacant stool. He hadn’t even noticed Azriel walking over. He smiled a bit and Lucien stood up to go clean the brushes he’d used. He glanced back at Azriel who had started chatting quietly with Feyre who had returned to collect the painting.

“See you soon,” Feyre said pointedly at the door an hour after everything had settled down. Lucien smiled a bit, “I’ll be back sooner next time.” She pushed his shoulder lightly, “You’d better. Have a nice night you two.” She offered Lucien and Azriel a small wave before closing the door. There was a long silence and Lucien looked over at Azriel. Azriel coughed lightly into the back of his hand and looked back at Lucien. “It’s still kind of early…” Lucien nodded, “Yup…” Azriel paused and nodded to himself, “I… I’m going to finish something at the studio. See you at the apartment.” Lucien nodded and Azriel disappeared into a building down the street. Lucien sighed and turned to head home.


	3. Chapter Three

Azriel looked around the loft inspecting everything carefully from his seat before he made any movement to get up and start digging in his tools. His detailing tool was missing from his desk. The studio occupied the loft above a bookstore. Both quiet enough to not bother one another but their owners observant enough to keep an eye out for one another. Azriel glanced quickly down the stairs and to the sign wondering if the implement had tumbled down while he was opening that morning. He turned back towards his desk, deciding that if he had truly lost it then there was no point in wasting more time in looking when he had a spare on hand. He sat down again carefully flipping through pages of his commission book. He stopped when he saw her name again. Elain Archeron had last picked up an order from him last week. A pretty vase painted white with purple lilacs embossed and painted onto the side. A small part of him was glad that she hadn’t put in another order yet. He wasn’t sure how awkward it would be or if Elaine even knew that Azriel had heard her breakup with Lucien. There wasn’t any doubt that Lucien knew and things were still pretty tense between them. But everything was easier when he didn’t have to deal with people problems. People were hard to get a grasp on. There was never any simple solution to a problem when it involved another person. Complicating the matter further Feyre seemed to be pushing Azriel towards her sister.   
“She likes you.” Feyre had said. “I think you two would be good together. You might be what you both need.” Azriel shook his head and lifted the lid off of the bin where he stored his clay. Usually, he could come to work and clear his head but everything seemed to be weighing on him a bit more today. He picked up a chunk of clay and a container of water before sitting down at the wheel by the window. He wouldn't want to upset Lucien either. There was some kind of rule about that right? Don't date your friend's ex? Was Lucien his friend? The question gave him pause and he frowned. They lived together but Lucien still seemed fairly wary of him. He looked at the time. Lucien probably wasn’t even up yet. Maybe If Azriel sent food to the apartment the buzzer would wake up and eat something. He’d noticed Lucien skipping more meals than he usually did. Probably because of the breakup but Azriel hadn’t wanted to pry. Azriel stood and walked over to the corkboard by his empty desk. Rhys had gotten the desk for him when he said he found a studio. Sometimes he would bring his laptop to work on emails or crunch numbers but usually, he just didn’t need it. And it was far too nice to work with the clay on. He examined the takeout menus he had stuck on the board. They came in the mail every so often and Azriel always kept them in case one day he’d remember to stop working long enough to eat lunch. He never did and so the papers were still bright and free of the clay residue that rubbed off on his hands. He frowned, he didn’t even really know what Lucien liked to eat for lunch. He tapped his foot as he looked at the menus with increasing indecisiveness. He eventually grabbed one for a small sandwich shop down the street. He punched the number into his cellphone. It was an older flip phone that Rhysand and Morrigan still nagged him about getting rid of. But the thing was practically invincible and it wasn’t like he needed it for much. It was serviceable and would be until something made it snap. Someone picked up and after they introduced themself Azriel asked, “I want to send some food to my roommate in our apartment, is that alright?” The clerk agreed and Azriel looked at the menu again. “I’m not sure what to order for him… what would you suggest?” The clerk seemed to think for a moment. “My favorite is the roast beef and swiss on cracked wheat bread.” Azriel carefully sat on the chair that matched his desk. “That sounds good.” The clerk seemed to hum as they took the order, they asked, “We have a lunch special right now, would you like to send the sandwich as a part of that? The special includes the sandwich, a drink, and two of our specialty cookies.” Azriel sighed, “Yeah that works. You have lemonade, right?” He knew Lucien liked lemonade at least. He’d gone through gallons during final exams. “Yup we do. And our baking associate whipped up some strawberry cream cookies. Anything else I can get for you, sir? Would you like to send a note?” Azriel considered it and agreed. He gave the clerk his card details and finished the call. Now he could focus. He walked back over to the wheel and stepped on the pedal. Pouring a little bit of water on top to help center it. His breathing evened out and he tuned into his work. He wondered briefly if maybe Lucien was already up. Maybe he’d find something to work on today. 

Lucien was sitting on the piano bench sideways while he waited for some sheet music to print. One nice thing about living in Velaris was how active the art community was. Vibrant and well funded. So it hadn’t been hard to find a casting call for a play when he looked online. He walked over to the printer as it finished printing the sheet music. He’d done a lot for his diploma. Singing, dancing, costume design, and learning the piano. He hadn’t touched the instrument in the living room since graduation but he could remember really enjoying it. It had been an easy way to entertain Tamlin’s guests as well. Lucien was about to sit down on the bench again when the buzzer went off. He wondered if he’d forgotten about something he’d ordered but that didn’t make sense. He had a box at the post office for things like that. He opened the door a crack with the chain on to see who it was.   
“Delivery.” A wiry delivery boy chirped and Lucien frowned. “You may have the wrong unit, I didn’t order anything.” the delivery boy nodded, “Your roommate sent it for you. I can leave it for you here if you’d like.” Lucien sighed and unchained the door, “That’s not necessary.” The boy handed him a plastic bag and a glass bottle. He tipped his hat to Lucien, “Have a nice day sir.” Lucien nodded, “You as well…” He trailed off as the boy made his way back down the hall. Lucien shook his head and kicked the door closed. He set the bottle down on the table and looked at the slip stapled to the bag. It was the receipt with a custom note at the bottom. “We need to talk.”He set the bag and opened one of the wrapped cookies inside. What did Azriel need to talk about? Now he was going to be anxious all day. He shook his head and looked at the bottle. It couldn’t be too bad if Azriel had gotten him food with the message. Lemonade. Lucien winced. He hadn’t touched the stuff since finals. It was nice that Azriel remembered that though. He put the bottle in the fridge and left the second cookie on the coffee table. He took the rest of the bag to the piano bench with him. The sheet music started out simple enough. It was a bit complicated towards the middle though. He stretched his fingers a bit as he looked at the first few measures. He could probably stand to run through a few warm-ups first. A few sour keys later and he decided those warm-ups were indeed a good idea. “Okay… where did I start last time?” he mumbled and tapped at a black key absentmindedly. He let out a breath and started going through scales. He repeated until he was confident enough to start practicing common chords. And when he got that down he played something he’d had to learn for his final exam for that class. He smiled a bit as he finished the song. It wasn’t anything special but he hadn’t lost everything in the time that had passed and that helped set him a bit more at ease. He looked at the first few measures again and started to work it out. Now that he had something to work on time passed fairly quickly whereas it would normally drag on until one day felt like a week. Full weeks of those days were miserable. Every now and then he’d pause to take a bite of the sandwich from the bag and make notes on the sheet music. He was so focused on what he was doing that by the time Azriel opened the door, Lucien didn’t hear him. He heard Azriel clear his throat though. He turned his head and waved a bit.   
“Hey…” Azriel nodded and hung up his jacket before walking over to the table. “Sorry, I’m late. I didn’t know you played.” Lucien shrugged. “I didn’t notice the time, and I haven’t really played for other people since before you moved in.” If Lucien were being completely upfront, he’d always made sure he saw Azriel leave for work before he ever started practicing at the apartment. Lucien blew some hair out of his face, “I got your note. What did you want to talk about?” Azriel nodded, “Right. The note…” Lucien resisted the urge to breathe a sigh of relief. If Azriel had forgotten about the note it probably wasn’t serious. Azriel didn’t strike him as the type to send urgent messages with the sandwich boy, now that Lucien really thought about it. “I meant to ask you… are we friends, Lucien?” Azriel asked and Lucien blinked a few times. He hadn’t meant to let it catch him so off guard but he hadn’t ever really thought about it. Azriel made him nervous back when Lucien was dating Elaine but even that had kind of sunk to the back of Lucien’s mind after a while. Azriel had never made a move on Elaine when she was unavailable after all. Lucien trusted Azriel after that. But were they friends? “We’re friendly…” Lucien started, “but I don’t think we’re friends yet. Maybe if we spent a bit more time together.” Azriel stood up and moved to stand by the bench. “I doubt I’ll ever match up to Cassian or Rhysand, but I’m willing to try to be friends as long as you are.” Azriel nodded and offered his hand, “Sounds good to me.” he said and Lucien gave it a small shake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry! This is a very small update but I just found my outline again, I swear I'll have more up soon, thank you so much for reading! <3

**Author's Note:**

> The first chapter is pretty short but I'm just getting back into writing fanfic again. I promise I'll work on making the future chapters longer.


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